| |
| .. _using-on-mac: |
| |
| *************************** |
| Using Python on a Macintosh |
| *************************** |
| |
| :Author: Bob Savage <bobsavage@mac.com> |
| |
| |
| Python on a Macintosh running Mac OS X is in principle very similar to Python on |
| any other Unix platform, but there are a number of additional features such as |
| the IDE and the Package Manager that are worth pointing out. |
| |
| .. _getting-osx: |
| |
| Getting and Installing MacPython |
| ================================ |
| |
| Mac OS X 10.5 comes with Python 2.5.1 pre-installed by Apple. If you wish, you |
| are invited to install the most recent version of Python from the Python website |
| (http://www.python.org). A current "universal binary" build of Python, which |
| runs natively on the Mac's new Intel and legacy PPC CPU's, is available there. |
| |
| What you get after installing is a number of things: |
| |
| * A :file:`MacPython 2.5` folder in your :file:`Applications` folder. In here |
| you find IDLE, the development environment that is a standard part of official |
| Python distributions; PythonLauncher, which handles double-clicking Python |
| scripts from the Finder; and the "Build Applet" tool, which allows you to |
| package Python scripts as standalone applications on your system. |
| |
| * A framework :file:`/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework`, which includes the |
| Python executable and libraries. The installer adds this location to your shell |
| path. To uninstall MacPython, you can simply remove these three things. A |
| symlink to the Python executable is placed in /usr/local/bin/. |
| |
| The Apple-provided build of Python is installed in |
| :file:`/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework` and :file:`/usr/bin/python`, |
| respectively. You should never modify or delete these, as they are |
| Apple-controlled and are used by Apple- or third-party software. Remember that |
| if you choose to install a newer Python version from python.org, you will have |
| two different but functional Python installations on your computer, so it will |
| be important that your paths and usages are consistent with what you want to do. |
| |
| IDLE includes a help menu that allows you to access Python documentation. If you |
| are completely new to Python you should start reading the tutorial introduction |
| in that document. |
| |
| If you are familiar with Python on other Unix platforms you should read the |
| section on running Python scripts from the Unix shell. |
| |
| |
| How to run a Python script |
| -------------------------- |
| |
| Your best way to get started with Python on Mac OS X is through the IDLE |
| integrated development environment, see section :ref:`ide` and use the Help menu |
| when the IDE is running. |
| |
| If you want to run Python scripts from the Terminal window command line or from |
| the Finder you first need an editor to create your script. Mac OS X comes with a |
| number of standard Unix command line editors, :program:`vim` and |
| :program:`emacs` among them. If you want a more Mac-like editor, |
| :program:`BBEdit` or :program:`TextWrangler` from Bare Bones Software (see |
| http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/index.shtml) are good choices, as is |
| :program:`TextMate` (see http://macromates.com/). Other editors include |
| :program:`Gvim` (http://macvim.org) and :program:`Aquamacs` |
| (http://aquamacs.org). |
| |
| To run your script from the Terminal window you must make sure that |
| :file:`/usr/local/bin` is in your shell search path. |
| |
| To run your script from the Finder you have two options: |
| |
| * Drag it to :program:`PythonLauncher` |
| |
| * Select :program:`PythonLauncher` as the default application to open your |
| script (or any .py script) through the finder Info window and double-click it. |
| :program:`PythonLauncher` has various preferences to control how your script is |
| launched. Option-dragging allows you to change these for one invocation, or use |
| its Preferences menu to change things globally. |
| |
| |
| .. _osx-gui-scripts: |
| |
| Running scripts with a GUI |
| -------------------------- |
| |
| With older versions of Python, there is one Mac OS X quirk that you need to be |
| aware of: programs that talk to the Aqua window manager (in other words, |
| anything that has a GUI) need to be run in a special way. Use :program:`pythonw` |
| instead of :program:`python` to start such scripts. |
| |
| With Python 2.5, you can use either :program:`python` or :program:`pythonw`. |
| |
| |
| Configuration |
| ------------- |
| |
| Python on OS X honors all standard Unix environment variables such as |
| :envvar:`PYTHONPATH`, but setting these variables for programs started from the |
| Finder is non-standard as the Finder does not read your :file:`.profile` or |
| :file:`.cshrc` at startup. You need to create a file :file:`~ |
| /.MacOSX/environment.plist`. See Apple's Technical Document QA1067 for details. |
| |
| For more information on installation Python packages in MacPython, see section |
| :ref:`mac-package-manager`. |
| |
| |
| .. _ide: |
| |
| The IDE |
| ======= |
| |
| MacPython ships with the standard IDLE development environment. A good |
| introduction to using IDLE can be found at http://hkn.eecs.berkeley.edu/ |
| dyoo/python/idle_intro/index.html. |
| |
| |
| .. _mac-package-manager: |
| |
| Installing Additional Python Packages |
| ===================================== |
| |
| There are several methods to install additional Python packages: |
| |
| * http://pythonmac.org/packages/ contains selected compiled packages for Python |
| 2.5, 2.4, and 2.3. |
| |
| * Packages can be installed via the standard Python distutils mode (``python |
| setup.py install``). |
| |
| * Many packages can also be installed via the :program:`setuptools` extension. |
| |
| |
| GUI Programming on the Mac |
| ========================== |
| |
| There are several options for building GUI applications on the Mac with Python. |
| |
| *PyObjC* is a Python binding to Apple's Objective-C/Cocoa framework, which is |
| the foundation of most modern Mac development. Information on PyObjC is |
| available from http://pyobjc.sourceforge.net. |
| |
| The standard Python GUI toolkit is :mod:`Tkinter`, based on the cross-platform |
| Tk toolkit (http://www.tcl.tk). An Aqua-native version of Tk is bundled with OS |
| X by Apple, and the latest version can be downloaded and installed from |
| http://www.activestate.com; it can also be built from source. |
| |
| *wxPython* is another popular cross-platform GUI toolkit that runs natively on |
| Mac OS X. Packages and documentation are available from http://www.wxpython.org. |
| |
| *PyQt* is another popular cross-platform GUI toolkit that runs natively on Mac |
| OS X. More information can be found at |
| http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/pyqt/. |
| |
| |
| Distributing Python Applications on the Mac |
| =========================================== |
| |
| The "Build Applet" tool that is placed in the MacPython 2.5 folder is fine for |
| packaging small Python scripts on your own machine to run as a standard Mac |
| application. This tool, however, is not robust enough to distribute Python |
| applications to other users. |
| |
| The standard tool for deploying standalone Python applications on the Mac is |
| :program:`py2app`. More information on installing and using py2app can be found |
| at http://undefined.org/python/#py2app. |
| |
| |
| Application Scripting |
| ===================== |
| |
| Python can also be used to script other Mac applications via Apple's Open |
| Scripting Architecture (OSA); see http://appscript.sourceforge.net. Appscript is |
| a high-level, user-friendly Apple event bridge that allows you to control |
| scriptable Mac OS X applications using ordinary Python scripts. Appscript makes |
| Python a serious alternative to Apple's own *AppleScript* language for |
| automating your Mac. A related package, *PyOSA*, is an OSA language component |
| for the Python scripting language, allowing Python code to be executed by any |
| OSA-enabled application (Script Editor, Mail, iTunes, etc.). PyOSA makes Python |
| a full peer to AppleScript. |
| |
| |
| Other Resources |
| =============== |
| |
| The MacPython mailing list is an excellent support resource for Python users and |
| developers on the Mac: |
| |
| http://www.python.org/community/sigs/current/pythonmac-sig/ |
| |
| Another useful resource is the MacPython wiki: |
| |
| http://wiki.python.org/moin/MacPython |
| |